The Calcutta High Court has directed the formation of a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) under the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to scrutinize alleged attempts to suppress evidence and downplay the events surrounding the rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. The court specified that the investigation should cover the period from the victim's dinner on the night of the incident, August 9, 2024, until her cremation.
The CBI SIT, to be headed by the CBI's Joint Director (East), will delve into claims of destroyed evidence and efforts to conceal the full extent of the crime following the incident. The directive comes after the parents of the deceased doctor petitioned the high court, asserting that multiple individuals were involved in the crime and requesting a more thorough inquiry. The court has ordered the CBI to submit the case diary and all pertinent documents on the next hearing date.
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Government Actions Precede Court Order
This judicial intervention follows recent administrative actions by the Suvendu Adhikari government. Five days prior to the court's order, three senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officers were suspended for alleged mishandling and dereliction of duty during the initial investigation. Among those suspended are former Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal and former Deputy Commissioners Indira Mukherjee and Abhishek Gupta. These suspensions were announced in the wake of a departmental probe, signaling a state-level move to address perceived investigative shortcomings.
Background of the RG Kar Case
The rape and murder of the trainee doctor at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in August 2024 sparked widespread outrage across the state and among medical professionals nationwide. Civic volunteer Sanjay Roy has already been sentenced to life imprisonment for the rape and murder. However, the victim's parents maintain that the investigation did not fully capture the complexity of the incident, prompting their move to the high court for further scrutiny into what they allege were deliberate efforts to obscure the truth. The court's decision to form the SIT underscores the gravity of the allegations of a cover-up. The composition of the remaining two members of the SIT is to be finalized within 48 hours of the court's directive.
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